(submitted photo/Cleanfarms)

By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture Roundup

Agriculture Roundup for Friday Aug. 16, 2019

Aug 16, 2019 | 10:28 AM

The federal government has announced a significant contribution to research on two canola diseases.

SaskCanola will receive roughly $3.4 million to study Blackleg in canola and understand more about the emerging disease Verticillium Stripe in Canada.

Research will focus on genomic resistance, pathology and integrated crop management, which will help improve management practices and decrease incidences of emerging and established diseases.

The project, funded through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s AgriScience Program, builds on a previous $12.1 million under the same program for the Canola Council of Canada.

Trading partners have expressed concern about these two diseases and the work is part of a multi-faceted approach to ensure stable trade in the future.

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More Saskatchewan farmers are recycling grain bags.

Cleanfarms administers the program with collection agencies set up through 34 municipalities and businesses. It said halfway through 2019 farmers have already recycled 25 per cent more grain bags than they did in all of 2018.

Roughly 1,580 tonnes of used, empty grain bags have been turned in for recycling. The total collected for recycling in 2018 was 1,265 tonnes.

Cleanfarms shipped 84 semi-trailer loads of grain bags to a recycler in the southern U.S. where the bags are washed, shredded and the plastic pelletized so they can be used to make new products such as plastic bags. Each trailer load holds about 120 rolled grain bags meaning that more than 10,000 grain bags have been shipped for recycling so far this year.

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Farmers in Saskatchewan have reported the most damage from hail storms so far this year on the prairies.

Mid-year data from Canadian Crop Hail Association (CCHA) said nearly 7,000 claims were filed.

In total, CCHA companies have received more than 10,000 claims across Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and have completed processing on 46 per cent of those claims.

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The Canola Council of Canada will host a webinar to discuss how producers can learn how to get their farms certified for EU exports.

Europe’s biofuel industry is a significant export opportunity for Canada’s canola industry.

Answering a short questionnaire about canola production opens the door to the exclusive marketing opportunity.

The webinar on Aug. 22 will discuss how to make the most of access to European markets. A certified exporter will talk about EU demand and the process and a certified canola grower will share their own experience and benefits of certification.

More information is available on the council website.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF